Opioid addict Martin has seen the deadly fentanyl replace heroin as the most prevalent drug in New York. Now he’s trying to avoid “tranq,” a flesh-eating drug increasingly causing concern across America.

“It makes holes in your body, your skin,” said the 45-year-old, whose wounds on his legs and arms signify he may have unknowingly injected the animal sedative, officially named xylazine and commonly called the “zombie drug.”

The tranquillizer, approved for veterinary use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has infiltrated the illegal drug market in the United States, with producers increasingly using it to augment fentanyl.

Overdose deaths where tranq was detected have soared in recent years and in April the White House designated the drug an “emerging threat.”

Read more: yahoo